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In this episode, we observe significant events in ancient matrimony, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 171, penned by Poonganuthiraiyaar. Set in the farmlands of ‘Marutham’, the verse speaks in the voice of the lady to the confidante, as the friend worries about the man’s parting away.
காண் இனி வாழி-தோழி-யாணர்க்
கடும்புனல் அடைகரை நெடுங் கயத்து இட்ட
மீன் வலை மாப் பட்டாஅங்கு,
இது மற்று-எவனோ, நொதுமலர் தலையே?
‘What is the use?’ is the question at the core of this verse! The opening words ‘காண் இனி’ meaning ‘consider this’ holds within an invitation to ponder on something. Next, we glimpse at ‘deep waters fenced with a bund to keep away floods’ in ‘கடும்புனல் அடைகரை நெடுங் கயம்’. In ‘மீன் வலை மாப் பட்டாஅங்கு’ meaning ‘an animal trapped in a fish net’, we perceive an accidental event in nature. Ending with the words ‘நொதுமலர் தலையே’ meaning ‘by the strangers’, the verse welcomes us to know more.
An animal caught in a fish net – What could be the significance of this image? The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship when the man parted with the lady to go in search of wealth for their wedding. At this time, the confidante hears of a new development and brings that news in a worried manner to the lady. To the confidante, the lady says, “Look at this now, my friend, may you live long! In the deep waters with bunds to stem fresh, new floods, a fish net has been placed. The effort by those strangers is as if another animal has got caught in this net. What is the use of it?” With these words, the lady reassures her friend and nudges her to act rather than worry.
Time to explore the nuances. The lady starts by reflecting on the news that the confidante has brought to her ears. Before revealing what this is, the lady starts talking about a deep stream in their village, with a raised bund to prevent overflow during the fresh floods of the rainy season. Here, there seems to have been a practice of tying fishing nets to catch the fish, no doubt, propelled downstream by the floods. She asks her friend to consider how it would be if an animal had got caught in this fish net, and explains that’s exactly how, the seeking of her hand by the strangers, at the moment, was!
Now, it becomes clear the news the confidante brought to the lady was about the approach of strangers to the lady’s kith and kin, asking for the lady’s hand in marriage. From this, we gather that there was a practice of both arranging marriages as well as men and women seeking love marriages in that period. But, since the lady was already in a love relationship with the man, strangers approaching her parents was a pointless exercise on their part, the lady declares. In that scene of an animal getting caught in a fish net, the lady places a metaphor for her situation of how when she was awaiting the man’s return, something she did not want has happened. When an animal is caught in the net for fish, it will be considered a trouble, for it may tear the net and it’s not what those who have cast the net want. Through this illustrative image, the lady tells her confidante that the efforts to seek her hand by strangers will be of no use, and subtly persuades her friend to reveal the truth of her relationship with the man to her kith and kin. That single image reveals the intricate art of fishing by trapping fish downstream, a practice that is carried on, even today, in the hills of the northeastern states of India. In a few lines of verse, we once again relish intricate aspects of the life and love of these ancients.
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